Monoplane.



F. J. IVIARONKA.

MONOPLANE.

APPLICATION HLED APR. 26. i913'.

sjfegl n Patented Jan. il, 1916 2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

F. L MARONKA.

MONOPLANE.

1PPL1cAT1or1 mio 11171120.1913.

2 SHEETSWSHEET 2.

FRANCIS JOHN MARONKA, OF CHICAGO, LLINOIS.

MONOPLANE.

Maasai.

Specification of Letters Eatent.

Patented Jan. 11, 1916.

Application filed April 26, 1913. Serial No. 763,716.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known .that l, FRANCIS JOHN MARONKA, a subject of Russia, and resident of Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Monoplanes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact specification.

Thisinvention relates to improvements in monoplanes in which heretofore thepropellers are at the forward end of the machine, and have required a rudder manipulated by the operator for steering purposes.

The prime object of my invention is a monoplane in which the seat ofthe occupant is at the center of gravity thereof, and by which it is made possible and practical to steer the machine solely through the shifting of the center of gravity of the occupant, as by bending the body in the direction he desires to. have the Vmachine take. I t i A further object of my invention is a monoplane the propellers of which are located atthe rear end of the machine.

More specifically stated .the object of my.

invention is a monoplane, the body of which in its entirety in angles and curves transversely and longitudinally conforms substantially and as n'earlyV as may be to those of the body of a bird when its wingsmfare outstretched, and in which the center of its gravity when flying and the body of the occupant is i-n an upright position, is through the vertical center of the operator whereby. the `operator by shifting the center of4 gravity, of his body is enabled to control his direction of flight, and without other means steer the monoplane in' the direction he wishes it to take.

' llith these ends in view, my invention finds embodiment in certain features of novelty in the construction, combination and arrangementbf parts by which the said objects and certain other objects are hereinafter attained, all as fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings,v and more" particularly pointed out in the claims. y

in said drawings Figure 1 illustrates a top plan view of a monoplane in which my in-f vention nds`embodiment. FigIQ is a side elevationA thereof. Fig. 3 is atransverse section on the line 3 3 of Fig. .2. Fig., iis

a vtransverse section on the line 4;-/1 of Fig. 2, and Figs. 5, G and 7 are a transverse sectf1-on on the line 5-5 of Fig. 2. Fig. 8 is a view of the landing wheels.

Similar-'characters of reference indicate the saine parts in the several figures of the drawings.

For convenience of description, the monoplane of my invention will be referred to as consisting of the body portion 8, and beak 9, which however constructed are integrally jointed,l especially when made up of thin sheets of aluminum, which they preferably are, but may be of board, paper or wood, forming a thin but very strong and shell like structure. The body portion 8 consists of straight sides 10-10 substantially parallel, but maytaper from their forward toward their rear ends, and connected by a bottom 11 struck on a Vdownwardly projecting curve, the trough like structure thus formed being closed at its rear end as indicated at 12. Vith referenceI to a horizontal plane the lower edges of the side pieces 10 A10 are parallel therewith, with their upper edges slightly inclining upwardly from their rear to their forward ends, so that in effect an upward pitch is. given to the wings 13 and 14 supported on top of the sides 10-10, and to which they are secured by any means, or in any manner suitable to that end. rfhe beak 9 integral, or otherwise rigidly secured. to the front end of the body portion 8 is substantially triangular in cross-section throughout its length, arranged with its` apex or upper edge 15 preferably in a plane substantially above that of the body portion.

The opposing sides 16 and 17 of the beak converge along with their meeting edges 'at the bottom 18 of the beak to a point 19, or in other words the bottomedges of the opposing sides 16 and l17 having a graduated pitch from the body portion to the forward termination of their upper.' edges, Vfirst from the body portion' upon aline 20 pitching upwardly vfrom the planeof the bottom of the ybody portion, thence along a line 21 of shorter angle forwardly to a point 22"*and thence along an upwardly curved line 23 to enY the apex 'and upper edge 15 of thebeakl The vside pieces 16and 17 of the beak from about the dotted line'-'to the body: are convex'ed outwardly, but from thisl line -5 to the beak-the sides/16 and 17 are A preferably concaved toward eachother, but

may be in straight lines. The piece'forming the inclosing bottom of this shell like beak is convened as indicated at 24, which convexity adjacent the body 8 conforms thereto but gradually decreases to the point indicated at 25 from which point to the beak the surface of the bottom is flat, but if desired may be slightly concave.

1t will now, be observed that wings 13 and 1st are each substantially the same width, but that the wings 14 are much longer than the wings. 13, andextending across the body f portion, serve to form aicover for the length of the body portion corresponding with their width, and which wings 13 do not, and therefore between which latter wings isan opening to a pit in the .body for occupancy by the operator of the machine upon a seat 27, located at the center of gravity of the monoplane. For convenience of construction the wings 13 and 1d may be made in one piece, and while the shorter wings 13 are shown rounded on their ends, these ends may 'diverge from their front along straight lines to the Vouter ends of the wings 14 as will be understood by ,bearing in mind that the object of having the forward end of these wings as awholc shorter than the length of their rear edges is to facilitate the cutting of lthe air, and the buoyancy of the monoplane, and its steering by having a greater area of rear than forward wing surface for the displacement of the air cur- :nts pressing upwardly against the wing surface, and in short promoting a pivotal action to the monoplane for making turns.

is a means for propellingr the monoplane, it is to be provided with a suitableV gas engine indicated by dotted lines at 28, power shaft 29 of which iss-provided with suitable bearings (not shown) and projecting through the end 12 of the body portion has secured thereto wings SO-fSO constituting a propeller for the machine pushing the machine forward instead of pulling'it forward as in monoplanes heretofore, in which the propeller is in the front end thcreof.

The location of the propeller at the rear instead of the forward end of a monoplane regarded, and no doubt is of 'great advantage in several respects, among which may be mentioned that the operator has a better and more perfect control overhis machine for steering purposes when steering a monoplane by shifting the center of gravity of his body as is contemplated by my invention; that a pushing force by propellors will produce a higher rate of speed with 1hrx same power than is possible by a pullingforce. surh as heretofore has been Vcommonly employed for the propulsion of monoplanos. and as must be with their propcllers in front, and which when so located not meneer only tend to obscure the view of the operator in steering, produce an objectionable noise and moreover are not only liable to, but frequently have injured the occupant owing to their striking him if he pitches forward but sligl1tly,'or from a splinter therefrom, 'and when with the propellers at the rear of the machine he would be perfectly secure from any suchinjury.

As a desirable means for facilitating the starting andflai'iding of my monoplane, it

has secured thereto, the ends of bent rods or V-shaped bars 31, forming a support and stop for the opposite ends of the axle 32 rotatable. "onwhich are wheels Riveted or otherwise secured on top offthe axle isv a bent bar the ends of which are bent upwardly and perforated to for-m bearings for rods 35, secured at their upper ends to the body of the monoplane, and projecting through perforations in the bracket,4 the "axle and the apex of the V-sha'ped'bars 31, ,and

whereby the axle is sli'dabl'e'onv said rods. Coiled about these rods. {.;with an end bearing against the body ofvfth'e mooplane, and the end bracket 34 aresp1ings36,.below which, and abutting against-A theundersidel of the brackety and againstftheklaxle are other springs 37 for absorbing;l shocks, 'otherwise imparted to themoneplane and its..v

occupant when `the lwheels come in contact with the groundA In otherwords both'the front'l and rear axles and wheels are spring seated by one set of springs, andV their tendency to rise resisted by 'opposing springs, the effect of which is to not only give the `wheels great resiliency when rolling on the' ground, *but also when striking'the ground. on the descent lof the machine, both of which results are accomplished by very simple, effective and durable devices.

In the opera/tion of my monoplane it. will,

now be seenv that when making a ground start the occupant by swaying is body backwardly from an upright posit von'shifts the center of gravity toward the rear end of the machine, with the resultthat the beak of the machine is lifted so to speak, and pointed upwardly at any desired angle by the occupant, depeirdingupon how far he may lean his body toward the rear end of the machine, and if on the other hand, he

desires to descend from a height he 'has but to lean forward to depress the beak, of his machine, and at whatever angle he may desire, depending upon how far he leans forward and correspondingly shifts the center of gravity toward the front end of ythe machine. It will now be observed that with proper balance Aon the part of the operator the curved bottom of the body, and of the beak will displace 'the air uniformly at both sides thereof," while-the flattened portion of the beak receiving the force of thc current of air a, a right angle thereto oll'ers v direction.

' or on the other hand, the beak itself may be niemeer he may desire, and that on the other handv if he desires before reaching the ground to 'reascend'he has but to move his body in a.

straight line backward to an upright position 1n line with the center of gravity through his body, and the machine, when it will assume and move forward in a horizontal position, or he may in the first instance when' he desires to reascend While 1n the air gradually shift his body until its gravity has been shifted past normal toward the rear of the machine, and when the monoplane will reascend. When the monoplane is flying horizontally` in mid air and the occupant Wishes to steer the machine to the left, he inclines his body from an upright position sidewise to the left, and when under *the same plane of flight he desires tosteer the monoplane to the right he likewise i'nclines his body from an upright position to the right of him, but if he Wishes to make either of these turns When flying either in an upward or downward direction, he leans to the right or left With his body inclined for- Ward or'backward as may be, While steering the monoplane and regulating his propeller as'may seem best by means (not shown) Within his reach for controlling the engine to conform thereto. `When the occupant 'leans to the left for making a turn in that direction, and the 'monoplane is so turning,

it Will now be seen by reference to Fig. 5 that the impact of the air against the underside of the Wings and the straight sides of the body, and the concaved side of the beak at his` right will be increased; While on the other hand, the pressure of the airagainst the corresponding surfaces on his left Will' be decreasedA to whatever extent he shifts the center of gravity of the machine in that The tilting of the machine is made easier and quicker responsive to the shifting of the center of gravity as above described by reason of thesonvexed surface of the bottom of the body, and that of the rear end of the beak. It Will' now be observed that owing to the tapered and pointed form' of the beak it not only facilitates the penetration of the air by the monoplane,

but responds to the shifted, gravity 4for pointing in thedesired direction.

A storage tank (not shown) for liquid fuel, such for example, as gasolene may and should be so arranged that its center of gravity shall be on the same'line as that of the operator when sitting in an uprlght position, and to-this end may be directly beneath his seat, and may extend into vthe beak,

utilized as a storage tank, and its center of gravity be maintained by a shifting Weight as the weight ofthe gasolenels de creased from consumption, which Weight may be hand operated, but preferably automatically by the employment of a oat or floats in the receptacle.

.In order to maintain the point of center o f gravity fixed so that it maybe substantially un'changeable by the shifting of the gasolene in the receptacle Jfrom front to rear or from side to side both when the machine;`r

isascending and descending, it is the inten tion to employ partitions in the receptacle so dividing the body vof gasolene that the center of gravity of the gasolene may be maintained substantially at afixed and predetermined point, and as may be by parti- .i

tions set at such angles that the gasolene for example, will be divided into two bodies' having a Wedge-like form vwith the apex of one Wedge projecting to the base of the other Wedge:

My 'invention includes broadly any form or construction of monoplane, the center of lgravity of which is so located that it may e shifted by the shifting of the center of gravity ofthe occupant, and thereby permit him to control the steering of the machine in any necessary or desired direction, and is therefore, not limited to any special means for maintaining the vcenter of gravity of a liquid fuel, especially when it is seemingly now possible and practical to employ. electricity as a motor power, the center of grav-- ity of which is stable when once fixed.

Having described my invention', what l' desire to vsecure by Letters Patent is: i

l. A monoplane comprising in combination a body portion, having parallel sides and a convex bottom, a beak-like-member projecting forvvardlf thereof, in cross section substantially triangular. l

2. A monoplane comprising in combina-- tion a body portion, the sides of which are parallel, and its bottom convex, a beak-like member at the forward end thereof, the bottom of which adjacent the body is convened, and gradually merges into a substantially fiat transversek surface to the point vof the beak, substantially as described.

3. A monoplane comprising in combination a body portion the side Walls of Which increase in width from the rear toward' their front ends, a convened bottom connecting said side Walls, a beak like portion at the forward end thereof, the vbottom of which converges to a. point and extends up wardly a't an angle from the body portion, substantially as described.

4. A monoplane comprising in combination a body portion, the outer side faces of which are parallel, a beak-likeportion projecting from the :forward end thereof, trition a body portion, the opposing side faces l icc ch extend in parallel lines and nu width from rear to ffont, a beaku 1 portion joined to the forward end theetiifmguhu' in cross-section and converg- -to 'a ljjoint adjacent which the bottom wa'umardly. I

lo, witness whereof, 'I have hereunto set my hand and affixed my seal this 15th day of April A.D. 1918.

- FRANCIS lJOHN MARQNKA. 91,53 Witnesses:

JNO. G. ELLIOTT, MILDRED ELSNER.. 

